Benchmarking guidance that boosts your decision making
**Only 10 Guided Memberships remaining**
Fundraising leaders are expected to make decisions that influence millions of dollars of future income. They decide where to invest limited acquisition budgets, when to expand or reduce fundraising channels, how to respond to changes in donor behaviour and which opportunities deserve greater attention. While internal reporting provides valuable information about an organisation’s own performance, it rarely answers the question that matters most: how are we performing compared with the wider sector?
That is where benchmarking becomes invaluable.
Core Guided Benchmarking Membership has been developed for organisations that want to understand their fundraising performance within the context of a broader community of charities. By contributing data each year, members receive access to benchmarking, analysis and practical resources that help transform information into better decisions.
The objective is not simply to measure performance. It is to understand it.
Whether you are preparing a strategic plan, reviewing campaign results, presenting to your Executive Team or reporting to your Board, benchmarking provides an independent perspective that internal reporting alone cannot offer.
Every organisation collects data. Fewer organisations know whether that data represents success.
A donor retention rate may appear healthy until it is compared with organisations of a similar size. An acquisition campaign may exceed budget expectations while still underperforming against sector norms. Conversely, a fundraising program that appears average internally may in fact be performing exceptionally well when viewed alongside comparable charities.
Benchmarking provides the context that turns information into insight.
It enables organisations to identify strengths they may not have recognised, uncover opportunities that deserve attention and make strategic decisions based on evidence rather than assumption. Importantly, it also provides confidence. Decisions supported by independent benchmarking are easier to explain to executives, Boards and colleagues because they are grounded in objective evidence rather than opinion.
Core Guided Benchmarking Members receive access to a suite of resources designed to support fundraising decision making throughout the year.
Our online Insights in Action Workshops with Fi McPhee give your team unmatched access to program, organisation and sector insights – all translated into clear, actionable steps.
We get your team in a room, upskill them on critical areas of fundraising, and deliver practical outcomes that sharpen decisions and strengthen your performance. Following your session you will receive a recording of the session and a bespoke report to share within your team.
Our interactive Power BI dashboard enables members to explore their fundraising performance across multiple fundraising disciplines. Members can compare results over time, examine key performance indicators and understand how their organisation performs relative to comparable charities.
Rather than providing a single annual report, the dashboard encourages ongoing exploration and continuous learning.
The Insights Engine provides a streamlined way to access key benchmarking findings and emerging trends. It has been designed for busy fundraising professionals who need quick access to the information most relevant to their work.
Each year we publish our flagship Essentials Reports, summarising the most significant trends emerging across our benchmarking community. These reports provide a sector-wide view of fundraising performance and are widely used to support planning, budgeting and strategic discussions.
Some fundraising questions require greater depth than a high-level report can provide. Our Deep Dive Channel Reports examine individual fundraising channels in detail, exploring long-term trends, benchmark performance, practical observations and emerging opportunities. They are designed to help members understand not only what is happening across the sector, but why those changes matter.
Benchmarking becomes even more valuable when combined with discussion and shared learning. Throughout the year, members are invited to attend forums where benchmarking findings are explored alongside case studies, practical examples and open discussion with fundraising peers. These sessions encourage members to learn from one another while remaining grounded in evidence.
One of the defining characteristics of The Benchmarking Project is its community.
Our members recognise that fundraising improves when organisations are willing to learn from one another. While every charity has its own mission, many face similar strategic questions. Membership creates opportunities to discuss those challenges with peers who understand the realities of fundraising and who value evidence-based decision making.
Core Guided Membership is designed for organisations that have an established fundraising program and want to use benchmarking as an integral part of strategic planning and performance improvement, but need more guidance and deeper insights to find answers to specific questions.
It is particularly valuable for organisations seeking to strengthen reporting to Boards and executives, prioritise investment across fundraising channels and develop a clearer understanding of where future growth is most likely to come from.
Protecting member information is fundamental to how The Benchmarking Project operates. Data is managed securely, handled responsibly and used exclusively for benchmarking purposes. Individual organisations are not publicly identified through benchmarking outputs, allowing members to participate with confidence while benefiting from a rich and collaborative dataset.
If your organisation believes that better evidence leads to better decisions, Core Benchmarking Membership provides the tools, analysis and community to support that ambition. We would welcome the opportunity to discuss how membership could support your fundraising strategy.
